


We Slip And Slide

by CallieB



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: 80s Music, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Billy Hargrove & Jonathan Byers Friendship, Billy Hargrove Is A Good Brother, Billy Hargrove Lives, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Everyone Is A Wingperson, Everyone Thinks They're Together, Fluff and Humor, Found Family, Good Babysitter Steve Harrington, Good Parent Joyce Byers, Humor, Idiots in Love, Jim "Chief" Hopper Lives, Jonathan Is A Good Friend, M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Season/Series 03, Robin's Whiteboard, everyone ships it, it came from the discord, pure indulgence, robin is a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 23:21:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19733743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CallieB/pseuds/CallieB
Summary: It came from the Discord, y'all.Pure indulgent post-S3 fluff, including but not limited to the discussed concepts of:- Billy moving in with Joyce- The Jonathan/Billy friendship we all need- Grouchy Hopper- Jonathan and Billy smoking weed together and arguing about music. Because punk and metal are two different things. BUT they unite against Steve’s taste- Robin and Jonathan being excellent wing-persons- Hop and Billy teaming up against Mike to protect El- Shovel talks all round- Robin being clever and eating popcorn- The you rule/you suck boardArgh and now pleaseLOOK AT THIS PHENOMENAL ART THAT IHNI DIDplease and thank you!





	We Slip And Slide

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Ihni, Deny, Flippy, Tracy, Lissie, and everyone else who inspired this! Especially thank you to Flippy and Tracy for helping me sort through 80s music choices for Jonathan and Billy. The title, of course, comes from Depeche Mode's _Just Can't Get Enough_.
> 
> Also, in my head this takes place in the same universe as Ihni's [most recent fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19674892), so there's that.
> 
> God, I love the Discord.

It’s hard at first. There’s no denying that. Billy is a stranger in this house, an alien invading from another planet, and the last time he was here he beat Steve Harrington half to death and broke Mrs Byers’ crockery set.

She doesn’t mention it. 

“Not going back,” El had said, when Billy was still lying in an agony of pain in a hospital bed and barely aware of anything around him. She had eyes like fire, and the Chief had sighed and rubbed his neck.

“Kid,” he’d said. “He has a family.”

Billy doesn’t remember what happened next. Max and El carried on arguing, but he drifted back into a haze of pain and the next time he woke up he had a new home.

He’s sharing a room with Jonathan Byers. Jonathan Byers, who also holds the improbable honour of having bested Steve Harrington in a fight. He’s shy, quiet, the kind of kid Billy wouldn’t have even looked at before, but he has kind eyes and he swaps out his double bed for a set of twins without complaint.

Still, it’s hard. Billy’s still healing, spends most of his time prone and useless in bed, and he hates it. Mrs Byers touches his forehead and makes him want to burst into tears even though, really, she’s nothing like his mom. Max is pretty much glued to his side, and he wants to tell her he’s sorry, _he’s sorry_ \- but every time he tries, she won’t hear it.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she says fiercely. “It’s going to be okay, Billy. It’s okay.”

He remembers her saying that before, when she locked him in a sauna, and she kept that promise, didn’t she? _We’ll work it out together_. 

She’s not the only one to visit. El comes by, so often that Billy’s not entirely sure she doesn’t live here. Indeed, she often stays in Will’s room, when Hopper is out with Mrs Byers. When she’s not sleeping over with Max, that is. Billy’s asked a million questions, filled in the blanks the Mindflayer left in his mind, and there’s pretty much no one he respects as much as El.

She doesn’t say much, but she sits with him, and holds his hand, and sometimes when it’s quiet and dark around them his mind fills with beautiful memories of his mom and he knows she’s putting them there.

It gets a little easier when he gets a little better. Summer is turning into fall, and Max is complaining about having to go back to school, when Billy finally gets up the courage to ask Jonathan what he’s listening to. It seems that when Jonathan isn’t at his internship at _The Hawkins Post_ \- apparently he managed to reclaim it after the untimely demise of his boss - or out with Nancy Wheeler, he spends hours listening to records with headphones in.

He seems surprised when Billy asks him about it, like the idea of Billy being interested in him is a shock. He tugs the headphone jack out of the turntable, and Billy closes his eyes to listen.

He’s half afraid he’ll have to grimace his way through a Rick Springfield track or something, but Jonathan’s taste isn’t as tame as his gentle manner might imply. The fast-paced tones of _Rockaway Beach_ fill the room, and Billy drums his fingers on the edge of the bed as he listens.

“You a Ramones fan?” Jonathan asks curiously.

Billy shrugs. “Sure,” he says noncommittally. 

Jonathan laughs. “Liar.”

The kid has bite; that’s a surprise, but not an entirely unpleasant one. Billy pushes himself up onto his elbows with some difficulty. “Hey, as background noise, they’re alright,” he says provocatively. “You want _real_ music, I’ll play you some cassettes.”

Jonathan crosses his arms. “Real music,” he repeats. “Let me guess, you’re a Metallica guy? Real predictable.”

“I mean, yeah, Metallica is awesome,” Billy says, because it’s _true_. “But we’re talking Van Halen, Motley Crue, Kiss. Your baby punks can’t touch them.”

“ _Baby punks_ ,” Jonathan repeats in disgust, and Billy grins, and settles himself in for a real discussion.

It turns into a _thing_. When Jonathan’s home, they listen to music, and usually they argue about it. Billy discovers that Jonathan is in fact a bit of a baby punk himself; he defends Talking Heads so passionately that Billy can’t help but laugh. He makes Jonathan go out to his car and bring in his cassettes, and then he gets offended when Jonathan snorts over Twisted Sister.

“Seriously, Byers?” he exclaims, and Jonathan laughs and throws a pillow at him.

By the time he’s well enough to actually get up, autumn is well underway, and Jonathan Byers is Billy’s best friend.

It’s pretty fucking obvious that he doesn’t have any others, if you don’t count the kids. Tommy hasn’t so much as called, even though Billy’s ‘accident’ was in the news. Billy doesn’t give a shit. He likes Jonathan. He even likes Nancy Wheeler, although she doesn’t hang out when he’s there all that often. A couple of nights, she sneaks in the back window and squeezes into Jonathan’s single bed while Billy tries to pretend he doesn’t know she’s there, but it’s awkward for everyone involved and they don’t try it too often.

He still can’t drive, but he walks out into the woods with Jonathan and lights up. Sometimes, Max and El come with them, although they don’t get high when the kids are there. When Jonathan is at work, Billy sometimes hangs out with Will; they don’t talk much, but he knows Will is the only other person who understands exactly how it feels. They have a companionship Billy can’t have with anyone else.

When he’s _really_ bored, he watches television with Mrs Byers. He usually falls asleep on the couch; she strokes his head, and he tries not to cry. He has no idea why she’s so nice to him.

Steve comes around intermittently, usually to pick Dustin up after the kids have been hanging out. Billy doesn’t exactly talk to him, but they aren’t _not_ talking either; there’s a faint awkwardness to the whole thing. Billy kind of wants to apologise for beating him up, but then he also feels like he’s maybe paid for it already. He has no fucking idea how he’d start that conversation anyway.

It all changes one Sunday evening in early October, when Steve comes to pick Dustin up as usual. The kids are hanging out in the lounge, so Billy and Jonathan are out in the backyard smoking and arguing about Patti Smith. By now, they’ve wired the record player up so it can sit on the little table out the back and they can listen to music while they smoke; it’s Billy’s favourite way to spend an evening.

 _Because The Night_ is blaring out at top volume, and Billy is waving his joint around and explaining to Jonathan just why it’s mainstream bullshit.

“Mainstream,” Jonathan repeats in disgust. “ _Mainstream_ . It is _not_ fucking _mainstream_.”

Jonathan swears a lot more than usual when he’s high. Mrs Byers, despite being very strict about personal safety, is weirdly chilled about them smoking, even around the kids. 

“Byers, you don’t even know what mainstream _is—_ ” Billy begins, and then the back door opens, and Steve Harrington steps outside.

*

When Steve had first arrived at the Byers house, he’d been able to hear the music from all the way down the drive. It’s so loud that no one hears him knocking until he’s literally banging on the front door with his fist.

“Steve,” Dustin says sorrowfully, after he lets Steve in. “Take me home.”

Steve frowns, looking around. The kids are all piled on and around the couch, looking at comic books, but there’s no sign of the source of the music. They all look a little bit tortured, actually. There’s no sign of Jonathan, who is apparently meant to be babysitting while Mrs Byers is out with Chief Hopper.

“What’s with the music?” Steve asks.

“It’s not us!” Lucas exclaims loudly. 

“They’ve been doing it _all afternoon_ ,” Will agrees.

Steve blinks at them. “Who?”

They don’t bother answering. Instead, six fingers point towards the back door.

So Steve investigates.

“Byers, you don’t even know what mainstream _is_ ,” Billy is saying. He’s sitting up against the house, knees huddled into his chest and a cigarette in his hand. Steve hasn’t had a whole lot to do with him since he came to live with the Byers; he finds the whole set-up kind of odd, to be honest. The Byers are all kind, and sweet, and Billy… well, isn’t.

“You want to talk _mainstream_ , try Scorpions,” Jonathan scoffs. He’s sat next to Billy, long legs sprawled out in front of him. Billy had glanced up at Steve as he walked out, but at Jonathan’s words, he looks back at Jonathan incredulously..

“Scorpions are absolute classics,” he says.

“You’re _kidding_ ,” Jonathan says, rolling his eyes. “They’re totally tired.”

Billy sits up a little, mouth falling open. “Tired. _Tired_. Byers, are you out of your tiny mind? You’d rather listen to worn out nerds pretending to fight the machine?”

It looks like Jonathan’s about to answer back, but then he turns, and catches sight of Steve standing in the doorway. He smiles immediately; Steve just raises his eyebrows, waiting. Jonathan laughs, and turns down the music. “Hey, Steve,” he says. 

Billy’s head turns back more slowly, like he’s trying to pretend he hadn’t seen him before. “Harrington,” he says cautiously.

“Billy,” Steve returns. He nods towards the record player. “Not surprised you didn’t hear me coming.”

“Billy doesn’t like my musical taste,” Jonathan says.

Billy scoffs. “No one likes your musical taste, Byers,” he says. 

“It’s loud,” Steve says.

Something in his expression seems to nettle Billy. “What’s the matter, Harrington? Can’t stand something a little different?”

Steve, startled, blinks. “What?”

“He’s waiting for Hall & Oates to come on, so he actually knows the words,” Jonathan says, and Billy… Billy _cackles_. Which is when Steve cottons onto the fact that they’re both ridiculously high. Billy slips a little, leaning against Jonathan’s shoulder.

“Cutting Crew,” he says. “Tears For Fears.” Both he and Jonathan crack up like he’s said something hilarious. “No, no, I’ve got it. _Wham_.”

“I like Wham,” Steve says, nonplussed.

Dustin appears beside him. “What’s going on?” he says.

“Wham,” Billy says seriously, and he and Jonathan start laughing again. 

Jonathan starts fiddling with a box of cassettes on the floor next to them; he picks one, ejects the current tape, and puts it into his player. Billy rolls over, looking with interest. When _Uptown Girl_ comes blaring out of the machine, he laughs so loudly that Steve is actually a little concerned he’ll rip his stitches.

“I don’t get it,” Dustin says.

“Apparently, I’m not cool enough,” Steve sighs. He can’t help the little smile that’s playing around his lips, though. There’s something kind of… sweet, about Billy and Jonathan getting high together and listening to music. Almost innocent.

Dustin plants his hands on his hips. “You are cool,” he says loyally.

“Kenny Loggins,” Jonathan hoots.

“What the hell?” The other kids have come in, crowding around Steve in the doorway. “Seriously, what are you guys _doing_?” Max demands.

Steve rolls his eyes. “Billy and Jonathan are making fun of my taste in music.” He wrinkles his nose. “I don’t actually like Billy Joel,” he adds as an afterthought. “Or Kenny Loggins.”

“Oh, yeah? Enlighten us, King Steve,” Billy says with grandiosity, and Steve is weirdly reminded of Robin. “What do you listen to while you do your hair in the ice cream store?”

“Say Beach Boys,” Jonathan says. Behind Steve, Will starts laughing. “Bread.”

“I like Duran Duran,” Steve says defiantly. He can’t bring himself to be too annoyed, not when Jonathan and Billy are both clearly enjoying themselves so much. Billy looks mildly approving of his choice. “The Cars,” he says. “Bryan Adams.”

At that last one, they both burst out into cackles again. It’s infectious enough that Max and Lucas are joining in, although Dustin remains staunchly silent at Steve’s side. Steve shakes his head. “Okay, I’m taking Dustin home,” he says. “I’ll leave you guys to… whatever this is you’re doing.”

“Wait, wait,” Billy says. _Uptown Girl_ is fading out, and Billy turns the volume right down. “Steve. Steve.”

Steve raises his eyebrows. “What?”

“Where did you get your first real six-string?”

Jonathan snorts with laughter. Steve rolls his eyes hard enough to hurt.

“Did you play it ‘til your fingers bled?” Billy presses. “Was it the…”

“Summer of ‘69, yeah, I got it,” Steve says. “Come on, Dustin.”

As they leave, the sounds of Jonathan and Billy, joined in raucous laughter, follow him out of the Byers house. 

Something about it just makes Steve smile.

After that, it’s like something in both he and Billy has relaxed. They’ve got past the initial awkwardness, and it’s easier for Steve to start coming round a little earlier, to hang out with Billy and Jonathan before he takes Dustin home. Sometimes, he comes when Dustin isn’t even there. They still make fun of his musical taste, but they expand their range of activities when Steve is there.

It’s nice. It’s fun. And it’s also… fucking confusing.

“Confusing,” Robin repeats, when he tells her this. “Confusing how? What’s the matter, Steve, you forgot how friends work?”

He pushes her shoulder. “Yeah, like I could, with you around,” he says affectionately, and she laughs. It’s a quiet day in the video store, and they’ve been messing around like they always do. Keith hates it, which makes it even funnier. “It’s just, we’re not even friends! He beat me up, Robin.”

“Bet you deserved it,” she says bracingly, and he pushes her again. She knows the story already. “Hey, if he hadn’t beaten you up, you wouldn’t be the underdog, and if you weren’t the underdog, you wouldn’t have got the Russian.”

“What Russian?” Billy says, walking into the shop. Steve, for no reason at all, feels his stomach flip over.

Robin’s eyes widen. “Steve hasn’t told you about the Russian? The single fight he’s actually managed to win?”

Billy turns to Steve in mock incredulity. “No shit, Harrington, you won a fight?”

“Shut up,” Steve says, but he’s smiling. 

Robin launches into the story with gusto, and Billy leans against the counter and laughs at Steve’s expense. It’s comfortable, and pleasant, and Steve defends himself but he doesn’t mind when Robin and Billy team up against him. They all talk for around half an hour, and then Billy leaves.

Right before he goes, he turns at the door, and says: “Hey, Harrington, I never said. Sorry for the fight.”

“Um,” Steve stutters. His mind has gone totally blank. Billy waits. Robin stands on his foot under the counter, and he says hastily: “Uh, that’s okay, man. It was a long time ago.”

Billy smiles. “Guess it all makes a hell of a lot more sense now.”

“Yeah,” Steve says stupidly. Billy grins at him, and then he’s gone.

“Huh,” Robin says thoughtfully.

He turns to her. “What?”

“Nothing,” she says, but there’s something in her eyes that makes him doubt it. “It’s nothing.”

She doesn’t mention it again right then; they carry on being stupid and laughing together for the rest of their shift, but at the end of the day when they’re packing up to leave, she says: “Hey Steve, did you notice? Billy didn’t rent a movie.”

He thinks about that for far longer than he can understand.

It’s not the last time Billy turns up at the video store. Steve figures he’s bored, now that he’s pretty much healed, and the kids are back at school and Jonathan and Mrs Byers are at work every day. He’s bored himself; Robin is still at school too, so she only works weekends and evenings. Steve drags himself through endless quiet days at the store and pretends he doesn’t mind that this is what his life has come to.

Well. He doesn’t mind it that much.

So it’s actually kind of nice, when Billy shows up. At first, he just uses it as an opportunity to deride Steve’s music taste some more - apparently that’s the only thing that he and Jonathan agree on musically - but after a while they get talking about other stuff. Like the Upside Down, and whether or not either of them want to go to college, and the kids, and how fucking stupid Tommy H is. 

“What was it like?” Steve is brave enough to ask, one Tuesday afternoon. Billy doesn’t ask what he means. His face gets serious and drawn, and he shrugs.

“Lonely,” he says. “Really fucking lonely.”

Somehow, it feels right to put a hand on Billy’s arm. It makes a lump come into Steve’s throat, but he does it anyway. “That’s shitty,” he says. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not lonely now,” Billy says, and there’s a moment where he’s looking right into Steve’s eyes, and it feels a little like electricity dancing under the surface of his skin. 

Then the bell jangles, and Robin walks in, and Billy draws back as if it never happened. Steve has no idea what to make of it. He decides it doesn’t matter; Billy is turning into one of his best friends - behind Robin and Dustin, obviously - and with everything they’ve both been through, it’s no wonder that there’s weirdness there.

Robin gives him a funny look, though. Later, after Billy has left, she says: “Steve.”

“Yeah?” He’s distracted up at the register, sticking price labels on a bunch of videotapes Keith left them.

“You know… you know how I told you about Tammy Thompson?” 

He looks up. They’ve talked about this since that night in the mall, but not a lot. He knows Robin struggles to be open about it; he’s the first person she’s told about Tammy Thompson. “Yeah,” he says cautiously.

She approaches him, swinging her arms a little nervously. “You know… for some people, you can, like… I mean, some people like girls _and_ boys.”

“Huh?” he says, frowning as he tries to take this in. “I thought your whole… thing… is you like girls.”

“I do,” she says. “I like girls.” She puffs out a breath. “I only like girls. But _some_ people like both.”

Steve is completely nonplussed. “Okay,” he says.

Robin rolls her eyes at him. “All I’m saying is, you know, that’s okay, to feel that way.”

“Okay,” he repeats. He waits for her to start making sense.

“Jesus, never mind,” she says. “Come on. I’ll help you with the tapes.”

*

Hopper and El move in just before Christmas. It’s been coming for a while, but Joyce still sits them all down to talk it through in case anybody has any feelings about it. It’s misguided, but very, very sweet. Hopper looks kind of like he wants to die.

“If any of you have any questions for us, or want to talk about how it’s going to work with all of us here, we’re here for you,” Joyce tells them all, one hand on El’s shoulder. She smiles around at Billy, Jonathan and Will. Hopper harrumphs beside her.

“Thanks, mom,” Jonathan says, a little uncomfortably.

Will scratches his ear. “Am I sharing my room with El?”

“That’s what we were thinking,” Joyce says, with a little look at Hopper. “Is that okay with both of you?”

El and Will glance at each other. “Sure,” Will says.

“Yeah,” El says, shrugging.

Billy raises his hand. “I have a question.”

“Of course, sweetheart,” Joyce says, so sincerely that Billy almost can’t go through with it.

Almost. “Does this mean Chief Hopper is our new dad?”

Jonathan cackles, and then tries to disguise it as a cough. Hopper’s face turns red. “Look, you little—”

“Woah,” Billy says. “I thought this was an environment where we can share our feelings safely.”

He can see Joyce hiding a smile. She says: “Of course it is, sweetheart.”

“Okay,” Hopper says, with an enforced calm that has the kids giggling. “In that case, Billy, I _feel_ that you’re not taking this discussion very seriously. I _feel_ that this is important to Joyce, and I _feel_ you need to remember that.”

“Hop, it’s okay,” Joyce says with a wink at Billy, which is one of the reasons Billy thinks she’s awesome. “I want Billy to ask any questions he has.”

“I have _lots_ of questions,” Billy assures Hopper. El and Will have already dissolved into laughter. “Like, where will you be sleeping, Hopper?”

“Yeah,” El says. “Where will you be sleeping?”

Hopper glares between them. He looks at Joyce, who raises her eyebrows. “I’ll be sleeping in Joyce’s room,” he says tightly.

El says innocently: “But what about the three inch rule?”

“Ask him where babies come from,” Billy tells her, but Hopper’s had enough. The laughter of all five of them follows him out of the room.

When El and Will have disappeared off to discuss the arrangements of their new room, Joyce wags her finger under Billy’s nose. “You’re a menace, Billy Hargrove,” she says.

Billy laughs. “Sorry, mom,” he says.

There’s a silence, where they both realise what he just said. Joyce looks somewhat misty. Billy beats a hasty retreat, but later, when he’s in his and Jonathan’s room listening to Alphaville’s _Forever Young_ \- shut up, okay, the record was already in the turntable when he got there - he feels something warm and not unpleasant tighten his chest.

So they move in. Billy and Hopper have always had a slightly uneasy relationship, but Billy finds that it gets a hell of a lot better when they’re under the same roof. For one thing, they’re both in complete agreement about Mike Wheeler.

He’s just always, _always_ there.

“I thought you guys were taking more space now, or something,” Billy complains, when he arrives on his bicycle for the third time in a week to pick El up to go round to his place on a Sunday afternoon.

Mike stares at him like he’s grown an extra head. “We are,” he says.

Hopper, sat in the armchair pretending to read the paper, sighs in a very put-upon kind of way. “Unbelievably, that’s true,” he says to Billy.

“This is _more_ space?” Billy asks.

“Yup,” Hopper says.

Billy shakes his head. “Jeez.”

“Yup,” Hopper says again, with feeling.

Billy looks back at Mike, narrowing his eyes into a glare. “Just make sure she’s not out too late. She has school in the morning.”

Mike crosses his arms. “Alright, _dad_ ,” he sneers.

“Excuse me?” Hopper growls. Mike immediately unfolds his arms. “Billy’s right. Curfew is eight.”

“Eight?” Mike exclaims, like that’s somehow unfair. “But—”

“ _Eight_ ,” Billy repeats heavily. “And that goes for Max, too.”

Needless to say, both El and Max are home on time. Billy and Max talk most days, even when they don’t see each other; she complains that he’s too overprotective, but he’s pretty sure she likes it. He’s not been much of a big brother for most of her life. He’s not sure he’s much of one now, really - they don’t live under the same roof, and he’s pretty much failed at protecting her from the monsters of the world.

“That’s bullshit, and you know it,” Jonathan says, when Billy voices this. They’re sitting out the back like usual, listening to Television and smoking weed. “You’re great with Max.”

“I love her,” Billy says. He must be high, spouting shit like that, but it’s true. He does.

Jonathan smiles, patting his arm. “She loves you too.”

For some reason that makes absolutely no sense, Billy’s mind makes a jump. He says, randomly: “You know who else is weird?”

“What?” Jonathan says. “Who? What are you talking about?”

“Steve,” Billy says, dragging out the word. “Steve Harrington.”

Jonathan shakes his head blearily, pulling in another drag of the joint. “Why are we talking about Steve?”

“Because,” Billy explains, “he’s weird. He has stupid hair. Don’t you think he has stupid hair?”

“I guess,” Jonathan says uncertainly. He’s not really keeping up today.

Billy reaches out for the joint. “He does,” he assures Jonathan. “And his face is _so_ stupid.”

“It is?”

“Yeah,” Billy says. “And you know what the worst part is? He’s just, like, so nice to the kids. Isn’t he just so nice to them? So annoyingly nice to the kids. They all _like_ him.”

Jonathan nods sagely. “Steve is pretty nice,” he says.

“I hated him,” Billy tells him. “I hit him.”

“So did I,” Jonathan says.

Billy considers this. “I think,” he says at last, “you had a better reason.”

“Maybe,” Jonathan says. He looks at Billy. “You like him now, right?”

“No,” Billy says. His cheeks feel oddly warm. “Okay, I guess, maybe. Maybe I like Steve a bit. You have to like him. Everyone likes _King Steve_. Because he’s _nice_.”

“You should talk to him,” Jonathan says. Billy’s too stoned to explain that he _does_ talk to Steve; they hang out at the video store all the time. 

Still, maybe something about the conversation sticks, because the next day, when Steve comes by to drop Dustin off, Billy says: “Hey, Harrington.”

Steve glances up at him. He’s wearing a blue sweater over his jeans, and it makes something ache a little inside Billy’s chest. “Yeah?”

“Come and get ice cream,” Billy says.

Steve’s eyes widen. “It’s December,” he says.

“Yeah,” Billy says. His heart is beating hard. He has no idea why.

“Okay,” Steve says.

They drive into town, and get ice cream at the diner. It’s frosty outside, but the diner is warm, and there’s hardly anyone else there. Steve and Billy sit opposite each other, making small talk while they eat, and Billy feels content.

“Did you hear they got funding to rebuild the mall?” Steve says.

“Yeah,” Billy says. “Not much good though, is it? I mean, I was depending on the shops for Christmas presents.”

Steve grins. “You’re getting Christmas presents?”

“Sure,” Billy says, shrugging. “Aren’t you?”

“I got Jonathan a camera, a couple of years ago,” Steve tells him. Billy’s actually heard this story before, but he waits in case Steve wants to retell it. Instead, Steve says: “I didn’t get anybody anything last year. I guess I didn’t have the motivation.”

Billy eyes him sceptically. “Not even Dustin?”

“Oh, well, Dustin’s different,” Steve says. “Who are you getting presents for?”

“Haven’t you heard, Harrington?” Billy says, spreading his hands. “I have a pretty big family these days.”

Steve smiles. It makes his face look… well, _something_ , and Billy’s heart flutters. “That’s nice. Hearing you call them family.”

“Don’t tell them,” Billy says, and Steve laughs.

“What are you getting them?” he asks.

Billy ticks off his fingers. “New skateboard for Max, new plates for Joyce—”

“ _Plates_?” Steve repeats.

Billy meets his eyes. “Don’t know if you recall, Harrington, but I broke some of hers about a year ago.”

There’s a second, a beat, and then Steve cracks up. 

*

It becomes a thing, Billy and Steve getting ice cream. Steve’s pretty sure the lady who runs the diner thinks they’re crazy, digging into peppermint scoop when the weather is so cold, but neither of them care. It makes him slightly nostalgic for Scoops Ahoy, but mostly he just enjoys hanging out with Billy. They go during Steve’s lunch breaks, or after he’s done with work, or on his days off. Sometimes they get proper food as well, but they always get ice cream.

“Steve,” Dustin complains. “You’re never around anymore.”

“What are you talking about? I’m literally always here,” Steve tells him. They’re in the video store, as always, and he’s trying to ignore Robin. She’s laughing at him and eating popcorn.

“No, you’re usually off somewhere with _Billy_ ,” Dustin says. “We never hang out anymore.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “We’re hanging out _right now_ ,” he says.

“Yeah, but you keep looking at the clock!” Dustin exclaims, which. Steve hastily wrenches his eyes away. “You’re just waiting for him to get here. You’re worse than Mike.”

“Huh?” Steve says.

Robin hops down from the counter, crunching her popcorn. “Get a clue, Henderson,” she says, and indeed Dustin has a weird look on his face, like he’s trying to work something out. Or maybe he’s constipated. It’s hard to tell.

“I have to go,” Dustin says. “I need to talk to Max.”

“That was weird,” Steve says to Robin, as Dustin leaves the shop. The bell clangs as the door closes behind him.

Robin opens her mouth to say something, but then Steve spots Billy on the opposite side of the street. He grins. “Catch you later,” he tells her, and he’s off, ignoring her shaking his head as he goes to meet Billy.

Steve has a day off the next day; it’s a Sunday, and he was planning on spending it in the diner with Billy, but Dustin radios him in the morning and asks him to come over.

“It’s an emergency, Steve,” he says earnestly.

Steve is immediately on the alert. “Like, Upside Down emergency?”

“Um,” Dustin says. “Sure. I mean, no, but almost as bad!”

Steve sighs. “Is this about Suzy?”

Dustin sounds relieved that Steve has figured it out. “Yes!” he exclaims. “Yeah, I need to talk to you about Suzy. It won’t take all day. Can you come over? I’m at Will’s.”

So Steve heads over to the Byers house. It’s a cold, sunny day, which is Steve’s favourite kind of winter weather; he’s looking forward to grabbing ice cream later. He’ll probably get chocolate fudge, which will make Billy roll his eyes and call him _predictable_. He’s smiling at the thought of the look on Billy’s face as he pulls up outside the house.

Dustin lets him in. Steve is surprised to see Robin there, sitting on the couch between Max and Jonathan; in fact, the whole group is there. Dustin, Max, Lucas, El, Mike, Will, Jonathan, Robin and Billy. The only one missing is Nancy. And Mrs Byers and Hopper, but they’re probably out somewhere together. Talk about a predictable relationship.

“Hey, guys,” he says cautiously. “What’s going on?”

“Beats me,” Billy says cheerfully. “Apparently I have to be here.”

Steve stifles a snort. “Yeah, Dustin, is this Suzy thing really a group activity? I mean, no offence, Billy, but are you really the right person to be giving dating advice?”

Billy throws a cushion at him. “You know, that’s not the insult you think it is coming from you,” he says. “I mean…” He gestures meaningfully towards both Jonathan and Robin. He knows about Robin’s preferences; Steve asked her if she was okay with him telling Billy, and surprisingly, she’d volunteered the information herself one afternoon in the video store.

Billy had taken about a minute to process what she was saying, and then bent over double laughing. “Oh, Harrington, your bad luck is _terminal_ ,” he’d said. Which apparently Robin also thought was hilarious.

He also knows about Steve’s entire sorry history with Nancy. Jonathan, who isn’t stupid, smacks Billy on the back of the head.

“Actually,” Dustin says loudly, “we’re not here to talk about Suzy.”

“Okay,” Steve says, sitting down on the edge of the coffee table. “Why am I here, then?”

“Do _I_ have to be here?” Lucas complains.

“Yes!” Max and Dustin say together.

Lucas casts Mike a mournful look. 

“Guys,” Steve says. “What’s going on?”

Dustin looks around. Nobody speaks, although Robin gives him an encouraging sort of look. Now that Steve is actually here, however, he seems somewhat reluctant. At last, he says: “I talked to Max, and she’s okay with it.”

“Uh, it’s not like they need my permission,” Max says.

“Huh?” Steve says. “Permission for what?”

“We’re all okay with it,” Dustin says doggedly. “As long as… as long as you’re nice to each other - I mean, Steve’s always nice, but—”

Max’s mouth falls open. “Are you saying Billy isn’t _nice_?” she says indignantly. “Billy’s nice too!”

“Yeah, but Billy’s hurt Steve before,” Lucas points out, and then raises his hands hastily when Max turns infuriated eyes on him. “I’m just saying!”

Dustin nods. “Yeah. I mean, Billy, you have to promise never to hurt Steve again. And if you do, then…”

Billy looks just as mystified as Steve feels, but at Dustin’s words, he grins. “If I do?”

Dustin lifts his chin up. He looks so comical that Steve has to hide a smile, but it’s still oddly touching when he says: “If you hurt Steve again, I’ll hurt _you_.”

“How?” Billy asks reasonably. Jonathan looks almost constipated with the effort of not laughing. 

“Uh, _hello_?” Dustin says. “Eleven, obviously!”

El folds her arms. “No,” she says.

“ _No_?” Dustin repeats incredulously.

El levels her gaze at Steve. “If you hurt _Billy_ , I’ll hurt you,” she says chillingly. Robin sniggers.

“Steve won’t hurt Billy!” Dustin cries.

“He might,” Max says coldly. “Billy’s been hurt a lot. I’m not letting that happen again.”

Steve meets Billy’s eyes. Billy shrugs. He clearly has no more idea what the kids are talking about than Steve does. Jonathan, on the other hand, looks like he’s fully in the know; his shoulders are shaking silently, and his hand is covering his mouth. When Steve turns a questioning look on him, he just shakes his head. 

“Guys,” Steve says. Nobody is listening. The argument is rising in both volume and temperature, and as much as Steve is flattered by Dustin’s impassioned defense of him, it’s getting a bit ridiculous now. “ _Guys_!”

Max and Dustin stop yelling at each other. “What?” Dustin asks.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Steve demands.

Dustin looks sideways at Max, like he doesn’t understand the question. “You and Billy,” he says.

“Well, yeah, got that,” Billy says, leaning forward in the armchair. “What about us?”

Dustin and _Robin_ , of all people, seem to be trying to communicate with their eyebrows. Dustin says, in a voice that sounds like he thinks it should be obvious: “You love each other.”

Stark silence follows his words. It feels like all the kids are holding their breath; it’s so quiet that Steve can hear the faint ticking of Mrs Byers’ clock above the kitchen counter. He feels a little bit like Dustin has clubbed him over the head. He doesn’t dare look at Billy.

After an interminably long time, Billy says, very, very quietly: “What?”

“You love each other,” Max says. She looks between Billy and Steve. “Don’t you?”

Billy gets up and leaves the room without a word.

That’s what makes Steve’s heart restart. He glares at the kids, Dustin in particular. “What the hell, guys?” he asks. “Don’t you think he’s dealt with enough?”

“Well, yeah!” Max says. She sounds upset. “That’s why we wanted to tell you it’s okay with us!”

“This isn’t a joke,” Steve says. He looks at Robin. “You should have known better.”

Robin looks guilty. “Hey, I’m sorry,” she says. “I just thought—”

“No, you didn’t,” Steve says. He’s furious, but his anger is quiet and fierce. He can feel it simmering inside him. Billy doesn’t deserve this, doesn’t deserve even a second more pain. He’s had enough. 

“Steve,” Jonathan says. “He talks about you all the time. All the time.”

“Stop it!” Steve bangs his fist on the coffee table, hard enough to make all the kids jump. “This isn’t funny! All that bullshit about us hurting each other, and look at you! You’re the ones who hurt him.”

At least they all have the grace to look shamefaced. Dustin looks at the floor, shuffling his feet. He says: “We didn’t mean to. We thought it would help.”

“Help what?” Steve asks. He realises he’s on his feet; he doesn’t remember standing up. “I don’t know what you all thought you were playing at, but Billy doesn’t need anyone messing with him right now. Did you all forget what he’s been through? He was _possessed_. And before that, even… Well, you two know better than I do.” He points at Max and El. They both look away. “He needs people to care about him, not make fun of him!”

“We do care about him!” Max says.

Steve shakes his head at her. “Not enough,” he says. “This was cruel. This… _I_ care about him, okay? He might be an asshole sometimes, but he’s… he’s a brilliant asshole. He’s funny, and he cares about you, doesn’t he? He’s your family. He deserves to be seen.”

“Steve,” Jonathan says. “We see him.”

“You all just hurt him!” Steve yells. “Jesus Christ, don’t you get it? You just hurt him, and I’m _not letting that happen to him anymore_.”

There’s a silence after he finishes. Until Mike says: “Um… Steve?”

“What?” Steve bites out.

Mike doesn’t answer. He just points.

Billy is standing in the doorway, two spots of colour in his cheeks.

Steve has no idea how long he’s been there. How much he’s heard. He feels his face heating. “Um,” he says.

He doesn’t get anything else out. Billy strides across the room, and before Steve can formulate a _thought_ , let alone a sentence, his mouth is on Steve’s.

He feels warm, and soft, and his lips fit against Steve’s like they were made to be there. He’s sure the kids are speaking behind them, sure that the room isn’t silent anymore, but suddenly none of it matters anymore. Everything seems to fade away, so that Steve is in a world where the only thing he can feel is his heart, thudding in his chest, expanding to the size of the sun to wrap around Billy. Billy, Billy, Billy - Billy in his arms, Billy kissing him, Billy’s hands in his hair - it’s Billy, it’s all Billy.

 _Oh_. He does love Billy. The thought makes him cling tighter.

When they finally separate, Billy has a tiny smile on his face.

“Hey,” he says.

Steve smiles right back.

*

The next time Billy heads to the video store, Robin takes him to the back room and shows him a small whiteboard. It’s split into two columns; one, entitled _You Suck_ , has a multitude of tally marks underneath it.

Steve turns red and shakes his head when he walks in and sees Billy looking at it. But he’s smiling too.

At the second column, and the single tally mark beneath it.

**Author's Note:**

> Come and rant about Harringrove with me on [tumblr](https://13callieb.tumblr.com/)!


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